WOODS BOYS BACK TO WINNING WAYS

Walsall youth team manager, Neil Woods, has heaped praise on his players work ethic following Saturday's 1-0 victory over near neighbours Shrewsbury Town.

In recent weeks, the young Saddlers downfall has been failing to turn chances into goals despite dictating play and dominating games. But in the win over rivals Shrewsbury Town, a different kind of performance was put in by Neil Woods’ side.

“I’m really pleased for the players,” said Woods. “Shrewsbury had the better of the first half, there’s no doubt about that.

“We have worked very hard the past two or three weeks on being better without the ball. It was shown to them what you can achieve if you become hard to beat.

“We can’t just be a team that if we are on top we will win the game and if we are not we will lose.

“So from our perspective as staff and players, it was the best performance we’ve had this year.”

Woods highlighted the importance of hard work and togetherness needed for the rest of the season.

“We had a chat about it after the game and it was noisy – as you can imagine when you pull together like we did,” Woods explained. “We’ve still got a long way to go. We need to play the football that we have done in the previous two weeks and defend like we did in the Shrewsbury game.

“So that means hard work and high fitness levels to be able to do it.

“And more importantly – To have an awareness and an understanding. We showed a lot of signs that we have a better understanding about what we have been talking about. As a coach, that is what it is all about."